Ganassi has confirmed that Ryan Briscoe will join the team in a fourth car for next month's Indianapolis 500, as predicted by AUTOSPORT last week.

Briscoe will drive the #8 entry alongside Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Charlie Kimball in a deal that reunites him with the team that he began his IndyCar career with in 2005.

"To say that I'm excited for the month of May would be a huge understatement," said Briscoe.

"I'm thrilled to join the Ganassi team for the Indianapolis 500 this year. Driving for the defending race winner - and especially with team-mates that are former winners - is just incredible.

"There are still a lot of familiar faces on the team from when I drove for Chip in 2005, and I can't wait to get started. I'm looking forward to a successful month."

Team owner Chip Ganassi said that he expects the Australian to settle in quickly.

"We all know Ryan is a talented driver, having had him in our IndyCar system previously," he said.

"He will get up to speed quickly because he understands the ins and outs of how we operate our race programme. The opportunity to have him back in a fourth car with us alongside Dario, Scott and Charlie is big."

Briscoe started last year's Indy 500 from pole position, although his best result in the race is fifth. He has been out of a full-time drive since former employer Team Penske scaled down from three cars to two at the end of 2012.

Bourdais cleared to return to racingSebastien Bourdais says he's been cleared by doctors to return to racing, although it's not yet clear when he'll make his first IndyCar start since his Indianapolis 500 qualifying crash1502872683IndyCar

Aleshin out of IndyCar seat for LMP1 testingMikhail Aleshin and the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports IndyCar outfit have parted ways, with the Russian instead set to focus solely on developing BR Engineering's World Endurance Championship LMP1 car1502616643IndyCar

Montoya: 2018 IndyCar tougher to driveJuan Pablo Montoya and Oriol Servia believe the 2018 IndyCar will be much more challenging to drive and entertaining to watch, after completing its first road course test1501677151IndyCar

How to solve F1's overtaking problemHow can the racing be improved? Would a windtunnel ban make for more interesting designs? What parts can F1 standardise? And which direction should F1 take for its next engine formula? These questions, and more, are answered this week1502841600F1

Why F1 needs more junior works teamsFerrari may tie up with Sauber, Red Bull has Toro Rosso, and Mercedes flirts with junior-driver deployment through customer teams. Embracing a more organised series of alliances would help F1 blood the best young talent much more effectively1502755200F1

What Bottas is lacking compared to HamiltonDespite his attempts to play down his first half-season with Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas has settled in well - but while he's been capable of matching and beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton, there's one key area where the Finn finds himself behind1502755200F1

Please note that unauthorised reproduction or translation of any content (including words, data, information, photos, videos and any other intellectual property) published on this page and any other copyrighted content published on Autosport.com is strictly prohibited. Please see our terms and conditions for further information.